Dominique Crenn on San Francisco’s tight chef community, French Christmas and the year that was

Today is the beginning of the Fifth Floor’s weeklong guest chef series. Each day, Inside Scoop will interview that night’s chef, take a look back on 2011, look ahead to 2012 and break down the guest menus, which are influenced by each chef’s heritage.

First up tonight: Dominique Crenn of Atelier Crenn.

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PL: Looking back on the year you’ve had — opening your own restaurant, the accolades, and so on — what’s it been like?

DC: It’s been an amazing year. You open a restaurant and it’s always a growing pain. It’s like a baby, but it’s been just great and we’ve been doing very well. Everyday I’m learning, everyday we’re creating. We just want to focus and keep the integrity of what we originally set out to do.

How has Atelier Crenn evolved?

It’s definitely more focused in the way we are creating dishes. It’s our own cuisine and what we want to do with the concept. It’s not just about a restaurant with techniques and recipes; it’s about showing people who were are. We want to make them feel and understand who we are, as a group and team.

What’s next for the restaurant?

I’ve been working with a lot of different people, ideas. I’m going to start to travel next year. I’m going to Paris in March for Omnivore. What is great about this world is that it is one world. It’s not about San Francisco, or New York, or Chicago, or Paris. The culinary world is a world where people try to meet around each other.

The restaurant has been quite busy. We’ve been consistent since opening. We have locals, but my clientele is a lot of international diners. It’s quite amazing to meet those people — a lot from eastern Europe, Sweden, and Denmark.

I didn’t expect a Michelin star before one year, honestly. Of course, it’s nice to be rewarded, but it’s not just about the Michelin star. We want keep growing and evolving.

Crenn and Bazirgan. Photo: Royce Dove

And now you’re doing the Fifth Floor dinner.

David and I have known each other for a long time. It’s about collaboration. When I talk about collaborating, it’s cooking together.

Here in San Francisco, we have a community of chefs. We hang out, we have dinner, but when you have a chance to cook together, it’s special. It’s also chance for me go back to a hotel. [Laughs]

Let’s talk about the menu (below). It’s inspired by your French heritage. How did you and David work together on it?

David is doing two dishes. Obviously David has a classical French background, so I sent him some ideas and my concepts and then he came up with them. He’s doing a turbot with black truffles, which is very French.

How does the menu reflect your heritage?

For me, Christmas in France wasn’t a commercial time. It was a place for us to celebrate family, not about how many gifts you get. I think about it, and I remembered what we had at home. I remember lots of food — goat and lamb and caviar and smoked salmon and foie gras.

I wanted to recreate the idea of what we had when I was growing up. It’s a celebration of Christmas for me, and a celebration of being able to cook with someone else. Like David.

The dinner is also to show the public that San Francisco is a community of chefs that support each other. You can do rustic, or modern, or whatever, and we all respect each other.